JP2015090648A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a quick operation under special situations such as an emergency situation by accepting depressing operation to a touch panel with a palm.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 1 comprises: a touch panel 10 having a display 11 for displaying buttons and a touch sensor 12 provided on the display 11 for detecting the depressing operation from outside; and a control unit 20. The control unit 20 cancels execution of a job being currently executed when detecting the depressing operation to a touch surface of the touch sensor 12 with the palm during execution of the job.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device that receives an operation on a touch panel and executes a corresponding function.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus, an operation to a start button is accepted to start a specific job such as copying, while a cancel button for canceling the job in the middle of execution is prepared, and a job with an unnecessary or erroneous instruction is prepared. The execution can be stopped quickly. However, for a user who is not familiar with the operation, it may take time to search for the location where the cancel button is arranged, and it is not always possible to promptly stop the job. In particular, as the function of the apparatus increases, the number of buttons increases, and it becomes more difficult to quickly view the desired button position. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228688 proposes a method for detecting a case where a finger is brought close to a touch panel and a case where a palm is brought close to the touch panel. That is, when a finger is detected, the corresponding function is instructed as if the button at the detection position has been specified, and when a palm is detected, a preset function is instructed to correspond to the palm. The button display can be omitted.

JP 2010-244132 A

  In the case of Patent Document 1, since the user can operate the proximity of the hand to the touch panel and the proximity of the palm as necessary, the apparatus side always identifies and detects which of the two operation modes. It is necessary to adopt a configuration. Although the two operation modes have respective characteristics, Patent Document 1 does not propose an operation method that takes advantage of such characteristic differences.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides an electronic device that enables quick operation by accepting pressing of the touch panel with a palm in a special situation such as quick response, that is, urgent necessity. It is for the purpose.

  An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes: a display unit that displays a button associated with a job; and an operation unit that is disposed on the display unit and includes a touch sensor that detects pressing of the button from outside. And a control means for canceling the execution of the job when it is detected that the touch sensor is pressed against the touch surface by the palm during the execution of the job.

  According to the present invention, during the execution of a certain job, the reception area by the touch sensor is preferably substantially the entire area. In this state, if a pressing operation is performed on the touch sensor by the palm, this pressing is performed by the control means. Detected and execution of the job being executed is cancelled. Therefore, when a cancel button is displayed on the touch sensor surface and the cancel button is pressed to cancel the job, it does not take time to search for the location of the cancel button, that is, no operation to the specific position is required immediately. An instruction can be given to the touch surface of the touch sensor. Further, since the cancel instruction to the button is made by a special palm instead of the fingertip of the normal operation, erroneous detection (that is, erroneous cancellation processing) when the finger is simply touched is prevented.

  Further, in the electronic apparatus according to claim 1, when the control unit detects pressing by a palm, the job is temporarily stopped. According to this configuration, the job is not completely stopped by pressing with the palm, but can be temporarily stopped for the time being, and can be stopped as it is after the situation determination or the like, or can be restarted.

  The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit cancels the execution of the job when the palm pressing detection time exceeds a threshold, and the palm pressing detection time does not exceed the threshold. It is characterized by carrying out a dialogue process regarding the presence or absence of cancellation. According to this configuration, the process is branched according to the length of the pressing time, and if it is long, the cancellation will be canceled as it has a high intention to cancel, and if it is short, the dialogue process is interposed.

  Further, in the electronic device according to claim 1, customization that selectively sets a process for canceling execution of the job and a process for performing a dialog about the presence or absence of cancellation when a pressing by a palm is detected. Means are provided. According to this configuration, it is possible to selectively set the mode in which the cancellation process is performed as it is and the mode in which the dialogue process is interposed, so that higher versatility can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, in a special situation where urgency is required, a quick operation can be performed by accepting a press on the touch panel with a palm.

1 is a partial perspective view of an image forming apparatus to which an electronic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram explaining the function of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen of the display part in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen when a palm is pressed during job execution. It is a flowchart which shows 1st Embodiment. It is a partial flowchart which shows 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows a customization process.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment to which an electronic apparatus according to the present invention is applied includes a casing 1A having a predetermined shape, for example, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a document reading unit is provided therein. Each unit for performing processing, image forming processing, and information communication processing is provided. Although omitted in FIG. 1, an automatic document feeder for automatically feeding a plurality of placed documents one by one to the optical document reading position on the document table 1B is provided at the top of the housing 1A. Is mounted in a state where the document table 1B can be opened and closed. At an appropriate position of the housing 1A, for example, a front portion of the upper surface (lower right direction in FIG. 1), a touch panel 10 as an operation portion having a substantially horizontal surface portion is disposed to protrude. The touch panel 10 includes a display unit 11 having a predetermined shape, for example, a rectangular display surface, and a transparent touch sensor 12 (see FIG. 2) such as a pressure sensitive element stacked on the display surface of the display unit 11.

  As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In addition to the touch panel 10, a storage unit 30, a communication unit 40, a document reading unit 50 that optically reads a document image, and an image forming unit 60 that copies and outputs a document image are connected to the control unit 20. The communication unit 40 transmits a document image by facsimile to another device using a telephone line or transfers it to another device using a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The storage unit 30 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM stores a control program executed by the control unit 20 and data necessary for processing, and the RAM is in the middle of processing. These data are temporarily stored.

  The control unit 20 includes a display control unit 21, an operation reception unit 22, a function execution processing unit 23, a timer 24, and a customization unit 25.

  The display control unit 21 displays various screens on the display unit 11. Various screens are hierarchically prepared in advance corresponding to operations, and include various buttons as virtual operation members. A function is associated with each button in advance. The functions include those related to information processing and those related to job (operation) processing. Job processing includes copying, facsimile, data transmission, and the like, and the job execution status is identified by the presence or absence of a flag in the storage unit 30, for example.

  The operation accepting unit 22 accepts whether or not the button displayed on the display unit 11 is pressed by the user's finger. By storing the display coordinates of the displayed button and the position information of the touch sensor 12 in advance in the storage unit 30, it is possible to detect which button is touched from the touch position.

  Further, the operation reception unit 22 detects the press by the user's finger (see, for example, the press trace 114 in FIG. 3) and the press by the palm (see, for example, the press trace 124 in FIG. 4) in an identifiable manner. That is, the touch sensor 12 includes sensor electrodes arranged in a matrix, for example, as is well known, and identifies a pressing position by detecting a signal of an intersection of sensor electrodes pressed by a finger. When there are a plurality of intersections, the pressed position is determined by calculating the center of gravity. Further, at the timing (under the circumstances) of accepting the pressing by the palm, the receiving area is, for example, substantially the entire area of the display surface of the touch sensor 12, the number of intersections pressed is counted, and the count value is determined to be the pressing by the palm. If the threshold value is greater than or equal to the threshold value, it is determined that the palm has been pressed, and if the threshold value is not reached, it is determined that the palm has not been pressed. Further, the operation accepting unit 22 measures the duration of pressing by the palm using the timer 24.

  The function execution processing unit 23 executes a function corresponding to the received button, and the correspondence relationship is stored in the storage unit 30 in advance. Also, the function execution processing unit 23 cancels the function corresponding to the pressing by the palm, for example, the execution of the job being executed, which is accepted at the timing (condition) during the execution of the predetermined job, for example. Further, the function execution processing unit 23 accepts a press by a palm and immediately cancels the execution of the job, changes the function based on the duration of the press, or adopts a dialog processing function. It is also possible to do. The execution of the function is processed by the corresponding command.

  The customizing unit 25 enables functions that can be executed by the function execution processing unit 23 to be individually set for each device 1, and is set and registered in advance via a setting screen. The individual setting can be set for each user in addition to each device 1, for each job, or when a user authentication function is provided, thereby improving operability.

  Next, a first embodiment of cancel processing corresponding to pressing by a palm will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 assumes a job for reading and copying a document. When the copy mode button is selected from the initial screen (not shown), the screen of FIG. 3 is switched and displayed. On the display surface 110 of the display unit 11, buttons and the like for setting conditions such as job finish are displayed. An icon 111 indicating the job status is displayed on the upper right side of the display surface 110, and setting buttons 112 for setting various reading conditions such as the reading density and resolution of the original are displayed on the left side. Further, on the lower right side, a start button 113 having a predetermined shape such as a rectangle is displayed. In addition, although other buttons are displayed on the display surface 110, descriptions of those not directly related to the copy operation are omitted.

  In FIG. 3, a pressing mark 114 shown in the display area of the start button 113 shows a portion pressed by a user with a finger in a state that can be visually recognized for convenience of explanation. Upon accepting this operation, the copying operation is permitted, that is, the original is read by the original reading unit 50, and the read original is transmitted to the image forming unit 60. When the start button 113 is pressed, the display surface 110 is notified that a document is being read, that is, is being transmitted (from the document reading unit 50 to the image forming unit 60). For example, the screen is switched to a screen as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the icon 111 in FIG. 3 indicating the job status is changed to an icon 121 for notifying that transmission is in progress, and a large-sized window 122 is overlaid on the approximate center of the display surface 110. The window 122 is for informing the progress of the job, for example.

  Further, in the present embodiment, on the display surface 110, the start button 113 in FIG. 3 is changed and displayed as a reading stop button 123 for instructing to stop reading. Further, on the display surface 110, a pressing mark 124 by a palm is shown in a state that can be visually recognized for convenience of explanation. A press mark 124 indicates a state in which a palm and five fingers are detected. The pressed mark 124 is determined to have been pressed by the palm, assuming that the detected number of intersections greatly exceeds the threshold.

  Next, function execution processing by the control unit 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, when the copy mode button in the initial screen is pressed, the screen moves to the basic screen (FIG. 3) of the copy job (step S11), and various conditions necessary for executing the copy job are set. It is set via each button (step S13).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the start button 113 has been pressed (turned on) (first operation has been performed) (step S15). If not, the process returns to step S13 to set necessary conditions. Is called. If the start button 113 is pressed in step S15, the execution of the job is permitted, that is, started according to the setting conditions (step S17). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not a pressing by the palm (palm touch) is detected on the display surface 110 (step S19). If no palm touch is detected, it is determined whether or not the job has been completed (step S21). If the job has been completed, there is no need to cancel the process, and this flow ends. If the job is not completed, the process returns to step S19. If a palm touch is detected in step S19, a job interruption command is issued (step S23), and the control unit 20 stops the job operation in response to the command.

  As described above, by detecting the palm touch using the entire area of the display surface 110 as a reception area, it is possible to quickly issue a quick response such as job cancellation, that is, a highly urgent instruction. Further, in the period during which the pressing by the palm can be accepted, the accepting area for the pressing by the palm is set to the entire touch surface of the touch sensor 12, so that, for example, the display area of each button being displayed as shown in FIG. Thus, it is possible to eliminate the process of determining the difference between the pressed position and the button display area.

  In FIG. 5, when a palm touch is detected in step S <b> 19, the job being executed is interrupted uniformly. However, in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the duration of pressing by the palm is considered. Or a so-called dialog process for interacting with the user. FIG. 6 is different only in the process of step S23 of FIG. That is, when a palm touch is detected, the job is temporarily stopped (step S231), and a time measuring operation is started (step S233). Next, the non-detection of the palm touch, that is, whether or not the user's palm is separated from the touch sensor 12 is detected (step S235). On the other hand, if the palm is separated, the timing operation ends (step S237).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the measured time t exceeds the threshold value Tth (step S239). If it exceeds the threshold value Tth, it is determined that the intention to cancel is strong, and a job cancellation process is instructed (step S245). On the other hand, if the time t does not exceed the threshold value Tth, a dialog for reconfirmation of the intention to cancel is displayed (step S241). As the dialog, it is possible to employ a general dialog that displays a cancel button that denies execution of the previous function and a restart button that indicates affirmation.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the cancel button of the dialog has been pressed (step S243). If the cancel button is pressed, the job is canceled (step S245). If the cancel button is not pressed, the resume button is pressed. It is determined whether or not it has been done (step S247). If the restart button has not been pressed, the process returns to step S243 and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, if the resume button is pressed, the job is resumed (step S249), and the process returns to step S19.

  As described above, the user's willingness to cancel can be reflected in the process by changing the mode of the cancel process according to the length of the palm pressing time, and the job resumption opportunity can be achieved through the dialog process. Can be provided.

  Next, the third embodiment will be described as a customization process shown in FIG. First, a system setting screen, for example, an initial screen is displayed (step S31), and a selection button for selecting whether or not to provide a branch for cancel processing is displayed on the screen depending on whether the pressing time by the palm is long or short. In addition, a selection button for selecting whether or not to perform dialog processing is displayed in a selectable manner according to the duration of pressing the palm or regardless of the duration of pressing the palm (step S33). .

  In the above embodiment, the number of intersections detected by the touch sensor 12 (ie, corresponding to the touch area of the palm) is determined based on the number of intersections detected by the palm sensor. However, as the fourth embodiment, the number of touched areas is determined. You may make it determine by. That is, when the touch area on the display surface 110 is divided as a palm part and a plurality of fingers, for example, the tip side part of three fingers, the total number of touched areas is a predetermined number, for example, 2 or more. In this case, it may be determined that the button is pressed by a palm. Or you may make it determine whether it is pressing by a palm, considering both a touch area and the number of touch areas.

  As a fifth embodiment, when a palm touch is detected in FIG. 6, the job may be temporarily stopped and the dialog process may be executed without measuring the palm touch time.

  In addition, as a sixth embodiment, when a palm touch is detected in FIG. 6, the palm touch time is measured, the time is compared with the threshold, and the job is canceled when the time exceeds the threshold. The job may be resumed when the value is equal to or less than the threshold value.

  Various types of touch sensors 12 can be employed, and the touch sensor 12 may be capable of detecting proximity to the touch sensor surface as a pressing operation in addition to direct contact with a finger or palm.

  The present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus, and can be applied to all electronic devices that accept an operation on a touch panel for operation and instruct to cancel the execution of a job being executed. The display unit 11 may be a programmable display. The job can include copying and printing processing, information communication processing, processing performed by an electromechanical device operated by electronic control and software, and manufacturing processing.

  In addition, the description of the above-described embodiment is an example in all respects, and should be considered not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above embodiments but by the claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

1 Image forming apparatus 10 Touch panel (operation unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Display part 12 Touch sensor 20 Control part (control means)
25 Customization Department (Customization means)

Claims (4)

An operation unit including a display unit that displays a button associated with a job, and a touch sensor that is disposed on the display unit and detects pressing of the button from the outside;
An electronic device comprising: control means for canceling execution of the job when detecting a pressing of the touch sensor by the palm of the touch sensor during job execution.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit temporarily stops the job when detecting pressing by a palm.   The control means cancels the execution of the job when a palm pressing detection time exceeds a threshold, and performs a dialog processing on the presence or absence of cancellation when the palm pressing detection time does not exceed the threshold. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2.   3. A customizing unit that selectively sets a process for canceling execution of the job and a process for performing a dialog about whether or not to cancel when a pressing by a palm is detected. The electronic device as described in.

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